VOL.3. No. 12
FROM ATOMM LIP&
1401
anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. Maclmow, a Russian, was exhibited in London in 1905, a t the age of twenty-three; he stood 9 feet, 3 inches in height and weighed 360 pounds. Magrath, the famous Irish giant, had a pituitary as large as a hen's egg. On the other hand, certain noted dwarfs have been known to have small pituitary glands. The organs of our bodies contain many principles and their study is opening up a new chapter in medicine and in life. Gland therapy is just in its infancy, and great discoveries may be expected in this field. There are many mysteries connected with the numerous principles of our bodies and with the complicated molecular changes that accompany the growth of living matter. We are such st& As dreams are made of, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.
i l . The oil of a well-known Brazilian tree Brazilian Tree Yields Leprosy-Curing - O . has been found effective in the treatment of leprosy and not as painful for the patient as chaulmwgra oil which has been used for centuries in leprosy cares in the Orient. Dr. Autenor Machado, who has made a study of this new product, finds that it resembles chaulmoogra oil in many respects but that its acids have fewer methyl radicals which, he believes, are the chemical groups that have made chaulmoogra oil so dreaded as a medicine. The new oil has been used quite extensively of late in the treatment of leprosy, and the results have been eminently satisfactory. Dr. Machado says. The tree from which the oil is obtained is known commonly as the sapucaioha. and in botanical language as carpotrochco brosiliensis. An extract made from it has long been used as a household remedy for skin diseases.-Science Setvice Scientists Undergo Slow Poisoning from Mercury Vapor. X-rays are not the only toys of science to extract a toll of physical suffering a t the hands of their intrepid users. The insidious poisonous effectsupon himself of mercury vapor, utilized in a @od of research experiments extending o w twenty years, have just been described in a saentiiic paper by the famous chemist, Prof. Alfred Stock of the Raiser Wilhelm Institute. Chronic troubles of the nose, throat, and intestines were rendered mare aggravating by increasing nervousness and as time went on his naturally excellent memory and powers of concentration grew weaker and weaker. No course of tmatment prescribed by his physicians proved permanently helpful. Eventually it hecame evident that collaborators in his own laboratory as well as calleames in other olaces were beina affected in the same way. I n consequence i t was decided to readjust laboratory conditions so that as little free mercury would efficientventilatbe exmsed to the air as ~ossible. And a t the same time a thorouably ing system was installed. In the course of a few mouths the various ailments fell off graduaUy and after a period of years health in some cases was restored completely when the experimenter refrained from further contacts with the fatal element. Medical science, Prof. Stack declares, is not aware of the danger arising from the inhalation of mercury fumes, the chronic poisoning from which, in his opinion, is quite as fatal as the better h o w n poisoning From lead.-Science Service ~
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